No forward for ever: After blocking Suez Canal last year, another Evergreen ship runs aground in US

In a relief unlike last year when Ever Given blocked 400 vessels from both sides of the Suez Canal, Ever Forward is not preventing other ships from transiting to the port of Baltimore

A massive container ship named Ever Forward, owned by Evergreen Marine Corp., based out of Taiwan, whose vessel last year blocked the Suez Canal for six days, has run aground near the US port of Baltimore, US officials said Monday.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard’s 5th District confirmed that the vessel had one pilot on board.

The Ever Forward, a 1,096-foot (334-meter) vessel ran aground shortly after leaving a Baltimore port Sunday night, said the executive director of the Maryland Port Administration, William Doyle, in a statement.

The 334-meter (1,096-foot) vessel was en route to Norfolk, Virginia, when it got stuck in the Chesapeake Bay.

“There have been no injuries or pollution spills,” Doyle clarified.

“The ship’s grounding is not preventing other ships from transiting to the Port of Baltimore,” he added, noting that efforts had been underway since Sunday night to free the stranded vessel, with two tug boats at work.

The accident came almost exactly a year after the 200,000-tonne container ship Ever Given became wedged in the Suez Canal during a sandstorm, blocking the key waterway for six days. The 400-meter-long Ever Given, longer than the Eiffel Tower, containing 17,600 containers completely blocked the canal, resulting in a backlog of more than 400 ships delayed by the incident.